In the spring of 1815, a brother and sister sat for a portrait. They both were in the last stages of consumption and their family wanted to have something to remember them by once they were gone. The family requested that the painter do what he could to return the bloom of youth to their faces and show no evidence of the disease that was ravaging their young bodies.

The portrait was completed in May and on the evening of its completion, the brother turned to his beloved sister and said, "It is time." They then went walking out into the garden as was their habit in healthier days and were never seen again. Instead of suffering the pain of death from consumption and the possibility of one dying first, leaving the other to die alone, the siblings decided to go to a secret place to take their lives together, so that they could die in each other's arms.

The next morning, after discovering that the young people had not returned from their walk, the family searched everywhere for them, but to no avail. Once they returned home, they were shocked to see that the portrait had undergone a horrifying tranformation. Where the painter had added blush to their cheeks and a sparkle in their eyes were now the pale faces and clouded eyes of the dead and in their hands they held bloodstained handkerchiefs.

It is said that on moonless nights in May, the brother and sister can be seen walking through the garden still, arm in arm.